The role of biogeochemical hotspots, landscape heterogeneity, and hydrological connectivity for minimizing forestry effects on water quality

Sammanfattning

Protecting water quality in forested regions is increasingly important as pressures from land-use, long-range transport of air pollutants, and climate change intensify. Maintaining forest industry without jeopardizing sustainability of surface water quality therefore requires new tools and approaches. Here, we show how forest management can be optimized by incorporating landscape sensitivity and hydrological connectivity into a framework that promotes the protection of water quality. We discuss how this approach can be operationalized into a hydromapping tool to support forestry operations that minimize water quality impacts. We specifically focus on how hydromapping can be used to support three fundamental aspects of land management planning including how to (i) locate areas where different forestry practices can be conducted with minimal water quality impact; (ii) guide the off-road driving of forestry machines to minimize soil damage; and (iii) optimize the design of riparian buffer zones. While this work has a boreal perspective, these concepts and approaches have broad-scale applicability.

Nyckelord

Biogeochemical hotspots; Hydrological connectivity; Landscape heterogeneity; Minimizing forestry effects; Water quality

Publicerad i

AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment
2016, volym: 45, nummer: Suppl. 2, sidor: S152-S162

SLU författare

• Laudon, Hjalmar

  • Institutionen för skogens ekologi och skötsel, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

• Kuglerová, Lenka

  • University of British Columbia

• Sponseller, Ryan

  • Umeå Universitet

• Futter, Martyn

  • Institutionen för vatten och miljö, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

• Nordin, Annika

  • Institutionen för skoglig genetik och växtfysiologi, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

• Bishop, Kevin

  • Uppsala universitet

• Lundmark, Tomas

  • Institutionen för skogens ekologi och skötsel, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

• Egnell, Gustaf

  • Institutionen för skogens ekologi och skötsel, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

• Ågren, Anneli

  • Institutionen för skogens ekologi och skötsel, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet
    

Associerade SLU-program

SLU Future Forests

Globala målen (SDG)

SDG6 Rent vatten och sanitet för alla
SDG13 Bekämpa klimatförändringarna

UKÄ forskningsämne

Skogsvetenskap

Publikationens identifierare

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-015-0751-8

Permanent länk till denna sida (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/69708